


World Domination: Here comes the Sun

by kwaranteen (Speleoj)



Category: Fine Line - Harry Styles (Album), Invitation to the Game - Monica Hughes, Walls - Louis Tomlinson (Album)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Crack, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Cryptography, Dimension Travel, End of the World, Meditation, Other, Parallel Universes, Post-Awakening, Pre-Awakening, Rating May Change, Revolutionaries, Saving the World, Secret Identities, Soulmates, Time Travel, Zoom Meetings, caveat emptor, enlightenment, online activism, revolutionary, self-care
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:34:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24316627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Speleoj/pseuds/kwaranteen
Summary: A Parallel universe AU where Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan actually went on tour and set their plan in motion. Other references and inspiration from all sorts of fictional works.Something is brewing online. The world is more complicated every day. Reality and fiction are getting blurred and when Diana stumbles on a passionate secret society on the internet, her world will never be the same.
Relationships: Harry Styles & Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. We Help Harry Styles Save the World

**Author's Note:**

> First time writing anything for AO3. Figured why not. Let me know if you like it, comments and kudos make me feel warm, fuzzy, and like I've made a real connection with someone; through letters that went from my brain to the page. Feel free to reach out with questions, corrections, typo checking, sensitivity checking, accessibility issues and any other things that you feel I could improve. I'm trying to get better at being inclusive, but I'm sure there is still a lot to be learned. I promise to listen with an open mind!

The computer screen flickered as Diana's hand quickly danced across the notebook on her lap. She was watching a just released interview with Harry Styles, basic promo for his upcoming video release, with some teaser images and clips. She removed her earbuds, holding them in her closed fist and picked up the landline.

"That was pretty clear to me..."

"Indeed! A master at work, all the plausible deniability, red herrings and dead ends possible wrapped up in one." said the crackly voice from the handset she had wedged between her chin and shoulder. 

" I just checked and the rainbow friends have not updated yet."

"Ha, I was about to tell you the same thing. I've been tapping on refresh on all their accounts and things seem quiet. It's the first time it's been done this late, though?"

"It should be any moment now, on twitter the hashtags are already trending" Diana chewed on her lower lip as she clicked and scrolled her way through her feed."We're getting so good at this, I'm getting goosebumps at the power we have in our hands. OHHH it's there!"

"yes yes yes. oookaaaay". came a mutter from over the sound of tapping keys. "It's '"Never regret thy fall, O Icarus of the fearless flight For the greatest tragedy of them all Is never to feel the burning light." ~ Oscar Wilde 

"Thanks Buzz. See you in a bit!"

Diana hung up and set the receiver down on the couch next to her. She leaned forward to pick up the laptop from the coffee table and move it to her lap. Now the scavenger hunt began.

When the GISHWHES alumni joined the project it was definitely a turning point. Now they ran the scavenger hunts and set up all the checkpoints... they tended to be a bit paranoid about someone figuring out their strategy so they just switched it up all the time: it had now become the perfect training ground for The Project as more people joined in day by day from all over the world. Diana and Buzz were currently running QA for the new cyphering and networking strategy. If all worked well tonight, they would have a stable code system to use from here on out to communicate between all the different clusters worldwide. 

Diana leaned down, grabbing her laptop's screen to keep it from sliding off her lap. She hooked her fingers on the neck of the beer bottle at her feet, took a generous gulp and set the dripping ice cold bottle back down on the terrazzo floor. She wiped her hands on her thighs and started decoding the message, bringing together the notes from the video, the key from the Rainbow Friends account and the cryptic hints that had been posted that day on different social media accounts.

The system was secure, distributed, image and video based to hide from web crawlers and changed constantly and that's what made it perfect for their secret rendezvous. From the Rainbow Friends feed she had the theme: She was looking for comments from handles with names related to the myth of Icarus or Oscar Wilde for the last post... So far she had "WaxingandWaning", "Flightoffancy91", "Suuuun" and "Chari0t0ffire" and "Gr33kGrndr" so it seemed Icarus was the clue.

Clicking on those profiles she checked their last post. They were:

\- a pouty picture showing just the barest smallest pimple on flawless skin. caption read - Issue #54 : I use makeup to cover my bad skin that breaks out due to makeup. I need to break out of this vicious cycle.

\- I just love this retelling of the Count of Montecristo, get your hands on this magical book RIGHT NOW and a link to goodreads. 

\- Work's done so I guess I'll go back to fighting with strangers on the internet who are wrong.

\- Love you boo bear XX

\- These days I love listening to Rebel from Mind your Ps and Qs... even if their name is a bit cringe. Sorry fellas. 

On the Goodreads page, Diana found a recent comment by boobear and clicked on their profile and then on the URL for their personal site. It was a folk music blog that hadn't been updated in ages, the side bar had a little box that said Members. She clicked on the link and a log in window popped up. She picked the option for anonymous and typed "BreakoutRebel54" as the password. The combination was the traditional

She was in. There was a black screen with a handdrawn scribble of what looked like a headset in white and a countdown clock inside, 2 minutes and change to go. On the side bar there was a chat where lots of people were leaving A/S/L comments as they flooded in and others asked what was going on. Everything had worked fine and the numbers of members on the page kept increasing every time they reconvened, and this was only in their cluster!

Once the countdown reached 0, the chat was blocked and the screen changed to show a colorful TV test pattern. A number flashed on the screen a few times and then the video came on. 

On the screen there was a paper cup with some water, a rolled up towel and three bottles of polish. gloved hands were painting some pink masking fluid along the outside of the short fingernails on the fine hands perched on the towel roll. The wrists of the person getting their nails painted couldn't be seen, they were covered by a gray running shirt mitt that went halfway up the palm.

"Welcome and congratulations! We made it!" Today we tried something a bit different and you all did splendidly in figuring it out. We spread out the hints wider, and with the change in time were able to get new timezones together. 

Remember the number that flashed on the screen, it'll flash again at the end. When you see it pop up again in our channels please begin hunt protocol. "

The pleasant voice continued speaking as they continued the manicure, now pouring polish in the cup one color after the other.

" During today's events we were able to spike the reviews and sales of our very own A.D. Vitalis' Count of Montecristo queer retelling set in Ethiopia. Mind your Ps and Qs "Rebel" also popped into the mainstream. If you liked either of these artists' work we'd all appreciate if you give them a review, buy their book or record so we can continue their growth and if you haven't already check out their fanbase. Thanks for those of you who suggested them, I don't think they knew what to expect and so far are floored for the media exposure they have received so far... they will be blown away by the end of the week. We are still picking our artists for the next week: remember to send in your recommendations on independent artists and self-published or under-represented authors from your own regions who share our vision"

"The next few months will be vital to reach critical mass. We are on the right path. Our data wranglers has been studying trends and it seems that we have established a regular and strong presence in Runet through the embroidery and painting groups. Our sources in China tell us that the check-ins are coming from more areas outside Shanghai and momentum keeps growing in Hong Kong. They still heavily depend on translators and people outside their firewall. the fan armies for popular K-pop, J-pop and C-pop are well connected and used to networking across borders so we have high expectations of our impact there.

The manicurist had been dipping the nails into the marbled surface of the water, and now they were cleaning the edges of the nails with a tiny paintbrush with polish remover.

"Many of our Venezuelan peeps have gone dark since access to internet was restricted, the teams there are still working tirelessly on fantastic analog communication via bulletin boards, SMS, zines, radio shows and delivery driver information drops. This model is proving to be very efficient to maintain communication within the cities and has had fantastic results in reaching people in rural areas. If your region is also experiencing internet blackouts, you may want to try out strategies used in the food security and farm-to-table projects and follow many of those same existing channels. The homegrown mushroom campaign, obviously, is a pretty straightforward one to follow."

The masking fluid had been pulled away from the edges of the nails and a top coat was applied to the psychedelic design. Diana looked at her notes quickly:

77, nail art, orange, purple, white. mushroom, psychedelic, marbling. 

"Once again, thank you fans for all your hard work. You are miracle makers every day, beautiful humans who work hard to achieve our dream of building a better world. Stay proud, stay strong and remember to drink enough water, eat good food, get rest and call one of our regional hotlines if you need mental health support. For those of you who can, don't shy away from showing your colors, for those of you who can't, we support you regardless and love you endlessly. We will see you again soon.We love you and can't thank you enough"

77 flashed once again on the screen and it went dark: the countdown clock appeared once again set at 15 minutes and people started logging out. Diana pulled out the comment log and got the data for the Age, sex and location of those who had reported it, plotted it on the chart and looked with a smile how the growing numbers. This was actually happening.

The Project had been morphing and mutating, flexible and resilient throughout the years. It had started as a whisper and back-end network for a couple of former members of the boyband 1D who had wanted to get out of their horrible contracts. The same techniques that had proven successful in making their story known to fans and recruiting their support to make the leap into their own label, free from closeting, fake personas, beards and management's draconian control over their lives and image would now be channeled into world domination. It was said in a tongue in cheek way, but it actually was what they intended. To make an online peaceful revolution despite quarantine, curfews and deadly viruses.

She rung Buzz again.

-Yo.

\- D, did you get it already?

\- Oh my god, did you? I haven't even looked it over yet.

-Do you want me to spoil it for you, or you want to try it yourself?

\- Ehh. I'm getting lazy, I'll let you know in a few minutes once I get frustrated and confused. I wanted to ask you something before we log into the meeting, though.

\- Hm.

\- Do we want to go forward with legal processes regarding the death and rape threats on those comments in the asks? I've been assuming that the answer is no since they are idiot 13 year olds, but what about the not-so-legal processes?

-Oh, I took care of it today. It was easy to contact their mothers and send them the full history of their misdeeds. I don't think we'll be seeing much of them again, since I also installed a little psycho-poltergeist code in their phones.

-Awesome. So I'll cross that off the To-Do list. What will the PP do this time?

\- I am proud of this one. Every time they write a slur it'll be substituted with kisses, hugs and sappy expressions of affection. Then their app will close and require a breathing meditation to reopen.

-Oh! To be a fly on the wall. I love your sneaky brain.

\- I'll love yours once you solve the riddle. 

\- Not all of us are professional cryptographers, some of us are trying our best with whatever we learned from Encyclopedia Brown, Nancy Drew, Veronica Mars and Sherlock Holmes. Anyway, so there's- Diana glanced down at her notes and opened some tabs, quickly scanning through the different images and profiles while muttering - Is it Iggy Pop or Bowie? hmmmm. AND, not OR.So 1977, Bowie, Iggy Pop... ohhhh. This is super obscure, I like it. So the mantra studio recordiiing. we have mushrooms and psychodelics left over... yaaassss, alliterations are awesome. Mushroom mantras! ok. I think I'm here. Logging in."

\- Buzz mumbled: you could also have gone to the image of the embroidered mushroom caps, and clicked on the link to the inspiration pieces by Charwei Tsai.

\- Pssshh. stop raining on my parade, I did this without studying for jeopardy! Besides, that was probably another group's clue.

\- I'll have you know this knowledge is from quiz night.

-Ahhh, such a renassaince spirit. I also love your pub quiz brain. Have I told you I love your brain in all its presentations? So big, so meaty, such tantalizing trivia tidbits.

Buzz paused and Diana could hear the smile in their voice when they replied.

\- yeaaaaah, once or twice. Tee tee why el.

The line went dead and Diana put down the phone again with a silly grin splitting her face. Buzz was cranky and funny and smart and her best friend. To think that they would probably never have met each other or crossed each other's path except if not for tumblr's algorithm for suggesting content. Buzz's tumblr had been just a bunch of anarchist memes with cats, lockpicking videos and these dark and brooding illustrations of the most ethereal androgynous beings suspended mid image that had moved her to contact the artist to ask to buy a print and she had included this mental rambling regurgitation of the different symbols she was observing in the picture and how they connected and what they represented and she had been high as a kite which is how she hit send. The rest was history. Diana had known Buzz for a few years and once she discovered the project, she brought them in... it was the sort of brain teaser, easter egg hunting, decrypting type of shit they lived for and she hadn't been wrong. Buzz jumped in and became one of the masterminds behind designing puzzles that made it almost impossible (Buzz was never one for assuming there weren't exceptions to every rule) for AI to decode and thus, track. They roped in some of their former GISHWHES team members and well, here they were.

There were about 10 people in the chat, all greeting each other and exchanging pleasantries, much more intimate than the previous meeting. They were usually used for cluster leaders to compare notes, systematize processes and unify strategies while they planned for the next stage of the project. Everyone was in a celebratory mood tonight. Their success in getting the numbers they'd had... it seemed the system had worked throughout the whole network and taking into account the different languages, pop culture references and popular search results per region, a massive feat. 

The screen flickered and there they were, Harry and Louis in their home, sitting nestled next to each other on their couch. Harry's voice rumbled out:

\- Hello! Thank you so much for joining the chat tonight! You all helped me win a bet...someone - he rubbed Louis shoulder - was insisting the references were too obscure.

\- They were obscure - Louis turned his head back to look fondly at Harry - it's just that they've learned your language.

Harry grinned back at the camera... - I still won! He did a small victory dance from his seat by shimmying and waving his hands with his indexes pointing upwards, jostling Louis who hadn't looked away from his face.

\- Anyway, we've got a lot to cover tonight, and we have very good news.

Louis interrupted, flicking his hair from his eyes as he looked away from Harry and towards the camera.

\- The Idol Project is officially GO.


	2. World Domination: Kindness Transformation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Parallel universe AU where Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan actually went on tour and set their plan in motion. Other references and inspiration from all sorts of fictional works.
> 
> Something is brewing online. The world is more complicated every day. Reality and fiction are getting blurred and when Diana stumbles on a passionate secret society on the internet, her world will never be the same. 
> 
> When a secret society with a plan to change the world in a way that makes your dreams come true asks you to join them, you join them.

3 years prior.

Diana had watched the subject matter grow and change before she knew there was a project.

She had started listening to Harry Styles after his first self-titled album, then she'd noticed some pictures of him from his life as a member of a boy band and she'd been pleasantly surprised that management hadn't tried to hide the fact that two of the boys were together and that led her into learning more about it... Only to find that despite evidence to the contrary, the official story was that they were both in relationships with other people: Louis in a long term one and Harry with multiple ones. Larry Stylinson, not an extra band member just their ship name. She joined with other people on the internet who also had the same idea and together they'd read into the song lyrics, watch past interviews and interactions, analyze the matching tattoos, the rings, matching the timeline between stuffed animals on stage and twitter with articles and pictures about them. With the HS tour, they were now gathering more information in real time about their interactions and coincidences. She would sit and analyze the lyrics and try to figure out the different meanings and then just put out the crack theories.

At some point it became more of a conversation between them. Harry was using a turn of phrase in one of the songs that referenced 5 year old gay fanfiction starring them. Harry had a new ring with a stone that has a meaningful name. Harry freezes and mumbles when asked point blank about who some songs are about. They would look at the shirts or books that showed up as props in their pictures and find out all of them made references to LGBT icons or artists. It was a real time encrypted information exchange between the artists and fans via the only mediums available for them to express their thoughts with the least mediators: through easter eggs hidden in their interviews, spotify playlists, book and music recommendations, in their lyrics, music and videos.

Diana had started her own tumblr blog where she'd collect all these random bits and bobs of information from around the web into a coherent narrative to keep her facts straight. She'd correlate the clues with whatever the tabloids were writing about. She would read between the lines in the lyrics and see where they referenced real life events. She'd look at the common elements and symbols used in their tattoos that showed up in their songs and videos. She'd point out the mirroring between albums and how the men were hinting wildly during interviews, going as far as they could to help people connect the dots without them having to go against their contract in a noticeable way.

She felt it all fall into place when she read that Louis was interested in psychology and what that meant with the chair on the walls album. How in Gestalt therapy a person talks to an empty chair representing someone who isn't there and expresses their honest feelings as a way to work through issues. Fine Line enters stage left: it seemed to fall eerily into place as a retelling of Gestalt therapy sessions arranged in chronological order. And here was Walls with a cover with Louis sitting on a chair facing the audience. Like saying : I am the one in the chair that Harry is talking to. 

She started collaborating with other fans to spread the information wider and be the ones to tell the story to a wider audience using other social media outlets: instagram, tiktok, twitter, facebook, and also interest specific communities that shared some of the positive messages of the music. This expanded to not just talk about Larry: they did a run on papparazzi and how they work (artists can exchange picture opportunities for a promise to leave them alone at other times) , exposed music contracts that treat artists like they are property to be owned instead of people and how different artists have managed to get out of them, closeting of LGBT people in the music and acting worlds due to contracts and how pervasive it was around the world. When fake news had its exponential growth, they used the fake relationships and babies invented out of thin air to support media sources agendas and sell more to correlate that with mainstream news and how it was easy to mislead and how to recognize the patterns that tells us that this is news fabricated to get audiences hooked, to fight each other in the comments because that keeps people on the website and gets more page views: basically a how to learn to mistrust news sources and notice the interests and agenda they may be pushing, keeping a healthy dose of skepticism.

The community grew as they started touching on tangential topics: the importance of diversity, representation and inclusion regarding LGBT issues, discrimination, body acceptance, kindness as a daily practice and the importance of being yourself and embracing that which makes you different and unique instead of seeing it as a flaw. It was a giant community of love and friendships and people matching up with others traveling for a concert and offering beds, rides and company to each other even if they had never met face to face because they knew them through their posts and comments. It was that kind of group.

After the big coming out event at Harry Style's concert and public love declaration, which had been the PERFECT and most satisfying culmination to the tour and their story and start of a new life being open and happy and successful... and the redefinition of success. They promised no happily ever afters, but a commitment to be the best they could be to each other. They had shared with fans a fantastic mystery rom-com scavenger hunt for years and it had changed a generation. It wasn't the best gay love story... It was the best love story, EVER. Trials and tribulations, star crossed lovers, a society that stands in their way and their triumph against the system where their love could win. It didn't end in a happily ever after, they made no promises regarding happiness but just an assurance that they would be OK, to just try to be their best to each other and themselves and things would fall into place or they'd be able to handle any of those challenges together.

Her corner of the fandom was such an oasis of acceptance and support. It made living through the madness of the world's geo-politic upheavals bearable.  
One day she was DMd on twitter regarding a post she'd published summarizing how the Larry community had grown from all these hints and easter eggs. It was one of the fan accounts and they had a proposal for her: they wanted to ask if she was interested in joining a think tank to figure out how Larry theory messages had spread through the internet and which mediums had been the most successful. Diana wasn't that much of a numbers person but the idea sparked her interest and she figured why not. @GreenBlueKingSun sent her an invitation to a video meeting to chat about it in the next couple of days. She was curious enough to actually join the video conference.

There were about 50 people on the video conference waiting for it to start. GreenBlueKingSun shared a presentation about the think tank and explained their goal: to establish if this experience could be replicated and to what extent, to find out if there are any similar examples and if possible to design a guide for community leaders to create their own narrative where they can leverage media coverage and public opinion in places without freedom of expression. The conversation flowed afterwards, with back and forth ideas and examples. We were asked to send in a few paragraphs explaining what our hypotheses were regarding what we'd find in our search, if we could imagine what issues could also be tackled with this approach and any objections or complications we could foresee.

The reply to that email was a sign up sheet asking Diana to only use the information for good, which was a pretty simple agreement to sign and she was in. There were about 20 people working on the think tank and they were usually split into smaller video sessions of 4 or 5 people where they could share their progress, compare notes and establish tasks for the next meeting. They worked for a few weeks on this. They came up with characteristics and data and alternative communication channels that had all been used and it was this massive font of knowledge from all over the world. There was enough information, organized well enough that it was feasible to imagine repeating the process to actually spread any particular message: the researchers who were part of the think tank were vibrating with excitement. This could literally change the world. I would be up to them to make sure it was for better.

Discovering who was behind the project was a massive surprise.

One day in the middle of the editing meeting where they were deciding how to best present the data a notification popped up on the presentation where someone was asking to be connected via video, and @GreenBlueSunKing clicked on OK instead of dismiss, like usually happened when someone requested that by accident. On the screen, smiling ear to ear were Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson.


	3. Get in Losers, we're overthrowing the government

The release of Walls marked the before and the after. Before, the contract conditions imprisoned him and there didn't seem a way out of them. Pretending is something Louis had been doing for so long he had forgotten how it felt to do something for himself because he wanted to. Out of love and pride in who he was and how far he'd come. If this worked out, it would set the stage for achieving what they had thought impossible. There was risk involved but at this point, the hope of the freedom at the other side made him feel hopeful.

The first time Louis sang his new songs in Madrid, he was terrified. So many "what if's" buzzed in his head: if the fans didn't like his songs, if they didn't like the music HE wanted to make, if management figured things out, if there was something they had missed when studying the contract, if things would explode in his face due to any oversight. The feeling sat in his throat and he was ready to go out there and sing. He'd already walked far down this path, if there was a dead end, it would hurt and he wasn't sure how he'd cope if his siblings ended up suffering for his choices. He was responsible for them, like he had been responsible for the band. Self-sacrifice was a well worn path that he didn't want to travel again. Same with fear. He wanted what he wanted, to be who he was because he had nothing to hide. Get rid of the shame the held over his head. 

He went on stage and let go. Bringing these songs into the world was something he needed to do. The screams when he sang the line about Princess Park... his voice was full of emotion and sometimes couldn't hit all the notes like he would've wanted to but the audience's reception was amazing. He felt lighter. Harry had tried to explain so many times the feeling he had when he'd sang Medicine and had felt seen and supported by the fans, how he felt singing something that he'd been told would cause problems.

He didn't care anymore. He was dealing with non-stop interviews where he was instructed to talk about how his songs were written about his girlfriend. How he had to beat around the bush if someone asked him to elaborate on certain turns of phrase. Management had been on his case for a while for not playing up his relationship for the tabloids, for not controlling his siblings on social media enough. He had fought tooth and nail to chose the songs for the album, to write them as he wanted to but at the end of the day his wasn't the final decision and compromises had to be made... yet despite compromising he had gained more ground than he'd had previously thought possible.

Then came the time to release the album and it was crickets from the record label. His album was coming out and there was no promotion. He needed to make the numbers to have this album count for his contract and of course they'd fumble this to keep him trapped in it. Assholes.

Harry was his #1 cheerleader and he had an enormous supporting fanbase who supported who he was now, but he couldn't leverage any of that to help Louis. So Louis did what he did best. Dig in his heels and continue pulling. He posted on social media, he responded with fans and hoped for the best. In the end, it was bigger than he could even have imagined it would be. Fans opened their arms to his new songs and opened their hearts to him and would whisper words of support and how his music had helped them through really hard times. The rainbow flags that they still managed to slip into the events. He felt seen. He felt known and he'd never had this feeling outside of his inner circle. 

His album was #1 in more than 50 countries. Countries where there had been zero promotion from the label. Countries where English was learned as a second language. His sales and streams were record breaking and he was floored. Harry danced around him as the numbers kept coming in, holding his shoulders and shaking them to encourage him to dance as well, waltzing around the coffee table pulling Louis' head to his chest. Louis was tired but couldn't sleep. Instead of feeling a dark void in his chest, he felt that inside he held an open sky, infinite, holding the universe inside. Things snapped into place. This is who he was meant to be.

The plan was working fantastically. They were like the gently waving bamboo shoot, bending but not breaking, strong, flexible and firmly rooted. If they had to play by management's rules, they would in their own terms. Malicious compliance. Management wanted them to lie in interviews? Fear not! They would do so creatively and obviously, contradicting stories in different media so it became something of an inside joke. Harry couldn't get out of singing at an NFL show and they wanted him to sing with a woman, to spice things up in the media. So he did! He went on stage with Lizzo, knowing their own prejudices would keep them from trying to entangle the both of them. It was his way to show support for Kaepernick, to comply with the contract and to sing with an amazing artist who was doing what she wanted in her own terms. Beard contracts were ended and they celebrated quietly at home, snuggled on the bed dreaming about the future that was opening up for them.

Their songs were self-referential and would speak about other songs in different albums. Louis responded to Harry's songs, Harry sang back to Louis. Their videos mirrored each other. They were doing a call and response with their albums all written between the lines. They sang their love songs in front of massive audiences during the tours and it was the best time of their lives. They were reaching their dreams together, each one in their own way, not competing for a fanbase, not struggling to rip away each other's crowns. Building each other up on the down low, coding messages in how they sang their songs on the stage, tweaking the lyrics, bathed in colors, reading the fanmade signs, showing their audience their love and support throughout the whole tour. The fans seemed to have adopted the opening acts as well and every show felt like the best show. Harry and Louis had arranged for the dates and locations to make it possible to be together during the different legs as much as possible. They continued plotting, planning and communicating through secret social media accounts in code when they were not in the same place.

There needed to be a reunion due to contract stipulations so they decided to make it happen. It was during Harry's final concert of the tour. The stage was set with a checkerboard pattern reminiscent of the falling video's floor. The stage was sumptuous. The band members were all dressed in gender-bending clothes that seemed to be part sci fi and part barroque. Ruffles and space age materials, lace and bright colors. Harry had bounced around the stage, his energy filling out the sports arena. Fans were singing along and dancing in place in wild abandon. A mass of people wriggling and rubbing against each other in the crowded pits, standing up in the seated galleries. It was a celebration of individuality and community. Kindness and self-acceptance. It was time for the finale.

Harry spoke to the audience "There is a little surprise today. I am going to have a guest artist join us..." There was absolute quiet on the arena for a beat, then whispers and screams started from the fans. "LOUIS! YEAH! LIZZO! I LOVE YOU HARRY! WOO! STEVIE KNICKS!" Harry smiled conspiratorially at the audience before shushing them, "Quiet, quiet" he said, motioning with his hands for them to lower the volume. "Here is my mate, a friend I've had since day one when I joined a band and my life changed. Such an extraordinary and talented musician, proud of his origins. I am honored to know him. Please give a great, big welcome to NIALL HORAN!"

Niall walked out to a silent arena, a guitar strapped on him, dressed in a tuxedo. Cheers and claps accompanied him as the audience shook off their surprise. Harry welcomed him with a hug, both angling to keep the guitars out of the way. Harry joked "Well, I TOLD you it was going to be surprising! Are you surprised?" The crowd roared back in affirmation. He and Niall chatted a bit about his music, the One Direction days, Heartbreak Weather and then Harry waved Niall over to the microphone stand and said: "All yours!".

The lights dimmed to full darkness on the stage, a spotlight shone on Niall as he started singing No Judgement. The fans knew the song and sang it back and picked up the dancing again. Niall walked out into the thrust stage and the spotlight followed. As the song ended, he stayed out in the middle of the crowd, elevated above their heads. "Hello! Thank you for the wonderful welcome, the energy of this crowd is something that any musician should experience. I appreciate all of you!" A bit of back and forth with the audience and then he introduced his next and last song. "I wrote this song after remembering one of those conversations you have with close friends over pints when we talked about life changing moments and our wildest dreams. You know those conversations right?" The initial chords for Black and White began and the stage lights flared back on.

The riotous reaction from the crowd could've brought down the arena in their deafening roar. Niall could not be heard over the screams so he put down his guitar and bowed towards the stage.

Harry had changed his clothes and was wearing an elaborate dress/suit in white. It had the same vibe as the band's costumes, with a very structured top and a voluminous floor length skirt. Next to him was Louis, dressed all in black on black. Behind them was Liam and next to him, Zayn. It was complete pandemonium on the arena while Niall walked back towards the stage furiously clapping in celebration. The song began again and with it color burst onto the monochromatic scene. Banners unfurled from overhead, colorful lights swung around the stage painting it all in patches of colors. Harry and Louis started waltzing around the stage and on Harry's white skirt, pictures of Harry and Louis together in their 1D days were projected, a story of their life in snapshots. Liam and Zayn, dressed in dark tuxes made of fabrics with sumptuous textures joined in singing Black and White and moved forward to where Niall was standing. A long line of dancers glided onto the stage surrounding the couple and the screens were now showing on one side the boys singing, on the other, a birds eye view of the stage where Harry and Louis were surrounded by colorful dancers and it looked like a flower garden, the skirts on both men and women billowing out and effectively screening Harry and Louis from the audience as they all gathered towards the middle of the circle. From the top, you could see them wrapped around each other in a tight hug. When the dancers opened up making a path towards the front of the stage the happy couple walked hand in hand to the front. Louis sang the last chorus with his clear clean voice, the audience hanging onto his every word, not wanting to miss a single note change. He sang the song to Harry, face to face. Pointing towards the stage, to the audience, to the sky and never taking his eyes from those green ones. Harry was beaming back at Louis with brightly sparkling eyes promising to overflow as he swallowing thickly, adam's apple bobbing. When the last stanza came up, you could hear his raspy voice wrapping all of his feelings into that promise. Once the last note was done, Louis lifted the hand with the microphone to Harry's face, blue tape wrapped around the base. He used his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that were streaming down Harry's cheek. Harry leaned towards the hand and turning his face kissed it, once on the 2 and once on the 8. Louis tipped his head as Harry lowered his and they kissed. The screaming restarted with wild shrieks impossibly louder than the ones before, the audience jumping up and down and hugging their neighbors with tears streaming down their faces, others shocked looking towards the stage with jaws slack in wondering disbelief as they covered the middle of their chest with both their hands, holding onto their hearts. The band members were standing up behind their instruments clapping wildly, hugging each other and wiping tears from their faces as well, they came down to the front and everyone hugged one another and kissed each other with pats on the back and hair ruffling. They'd done it. 

After a few minutes of celebration, Harry was able to compose himself enough to speak. His hand still in Louis' a brilliant smile on both of their faces.

There was a time when I thought I'd never be able to do any of this. It is thanks to you, who have supported me, listened to my music, danced with me in this and other venues over the world that I am here today making my dreams come true, with the love of my life, my friends and you, the best fans an artist could ever wish for. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." He placed his hand on his chest, held it for a second and continued.   
"This is who I am, this is who I love." he swallowed.  
"I hope, I truly hope, that if there is one thing you take away from this concert it will be that you can dream as big as you want and as long as you take steps towards your dreams, you can make it happen if you treat people with kindness and stay true to yourselves. Thank you" He wiped his face again and then cracked a smile and leaned his head towards Louis, prompting him to speak.

Louis cleared his voice and wiped the corner of his eyes with his forefinger and thumb before speaking. " This was quite the thing to plan, took us ages! But when Harry asked us to do this here, today, we were on board and it was a matter of making it happen.". He turned to Harry. "You believed in us. You have shown me how to believe in myself as well, to dream bigger and wilder than ever and know you'll be with me every step of the way. I hope I can make you as happy as you deserve in life. When we got married, that was the only certainty we had at the moment: that it would be you and me, everything else was a mystery. Here we are, today, together " pointing towards Liam, Niall and Zayn.

"It's been a 10 year journey and this dream would not have been possible with you. I grew up with your company and friendship. We've gone through a lot together some good, some not so great but here we are. We made it! " He bows his head towards the 3 men, who step up to the microphone to chat a bit and thank the audience. Louis stays with Harry by his side, arm slung around Harry's waist and Harry with his draped over Lou's shoulder, Harry rests his chin on Louis head and touches his lips to his hair, breathing him in.

Niall takes the microphone and says his goodbyes, thanking the audience and walking towards the stage's wings, bowing. He only takes a couple of steps before rushing back to the mic and saying "How could we!? Say, there are a couple of songs we could sing for old time's sake." The men all clap and the band starts while the cheering goes down. They sang a few favorites and the environment was all joy.


End file.
